Pincolino

Yeah, yeah ... criticism = hate
Childish.

The trailer of Thame Po was incredible. Not as popular as Heart Killers, but the series looks promising.
"Yes, this is fairly common in the entertainment industry, not just GMMTV"
I lately looked at the most recent movies Hollywood put out: 2nd seasons and remakes of old 80s- 90s movies, lol

"They don't want to work with each other and don't want to interact and made it clear to the fans" - it's that bad?
Because I remember how I was blown away by Nanon's acting, and I felt like Ohm did improve a lot, because of him. Seeing them act together, they both reached new heights.

I enjoyed Unknown, which had some deep and interesting storytelling. The end was rather disappointing, though.
I watched 9 of those series you mentioned (Unknown included). Didn't like them.
Especially Korean BL are becoming live action manhwa. Watching those series, I already can imagine the panels and the drawings without even knowing the original work. This comic-screen transition is just weird. The series lack depth, the characters don't feel real. I gave up on Korean BL this year. Wait, no, I watched Gray Shelter, that was decent.
I also watch On1y One from Taiwan at the moment. It's interesting enough.
GMMTV didn't put out anything mind-blowing this year. They recycle ideas and concepts.

I can only talk for myself, but if I see a rather low rating, I immediately want to know what's so bad about the series, and then I look at the comments. If people praise the series, I will watch it.
If a series has 8.8+ rating, I know something is fishy, and it's overhyped, especially when it's not finished yet, and just a few episodes are out.

The writing was terrible, really. It's the small things. The wattpad vibe is strong in this one. I had such high hopes for this series. But well, maybe ep2 is better. I already said It: I will watch it to the end just for Leng's pretty face.

Unfortunately, toxic fans are well known in the BL genre, but if I think about it ... Ohm is some unlucky guy for sure! He was involved in that big scandal with his first partner in Make It Right, now that drama with Nanon. No wonder he didn't do any BL projects for three years.
And well, sorry to say it, but all that craziness for a couple that is as straight as an arrow. Sure, everything is possible, but those two would be the last one I expected to come out of the closet. Ohm is known for liking girls and big cars, and Nanon will marry the girl next door. Strange, really.
I wonder what will happen if this new pairing (OhmLeng) is working out. More drama? Ohm has chemistry with everyone, and Leng will sure be popular with that pretty face.

Reading the comments, I had no idea that there are crazy OhmNanon fans out there. I mean ... Bad Buddy aired ... 3 years ago (I had to look that up). What's happening? Honestly, I liked their series, but not the pairing, they had zero sensual/erotic chemistry, only buddy chemistry, so the name of the series was fitting. Still, it was a nice and well-made series.
I had no idea that those guys had so much fans.

I'm bracing myself for the next disappointment. It's not a good year for BL.

Seriously, no issue with Leng. I liked how he screamed, and suddenly stopped after Ohm pointed his gun at him. That was the best and most powerful moment of Ep1.

1. I thought Leng's acting was better than Ohm's, but perhaps I'm biased, since I expected something great from Ohm, and something bad from Leng. Ohm tried to give the character more depth by showing emotions in some of the more serious and emotional scenes, but it didn't work for me. The character seems too simple, Leng on the other hand seems more interesting and complex. So I look forward to Leng's character and performance.
2. The plot is cliché and the little things are not well-thought-out. Maybe the romance, the emotions, and relationships will be portrayed better (I doubt it), but the writer has not thought deeply about the whole kidnapping process and what is going on in the character's mind during those scenes. Both behaved in a rather unusual and unlogical way, though I'm sure people will find excuses for their behavior.
3. I agree. The sound is the problem, and those little things and silly scenes, they could have done better. The plot gives me some heavy wattpad vibes.
4. I agree on the chemistry. I see no issues here. That's the reason, why I'm so bitter. I like this couple, they look good together, the dynamic is promising. But I have a good radar when it comes to deep and emotional series, and this first episode was too silly for my taste.

This was not a good episode. The production was okay, but characters and plot are lacking. And don't tell me, it's only the first episode. There were many scenes, they could have done differently and better.

The plot is silly and cliché. That wouldn't be a problem, if the execution would be good. It's not.
To give you some examples of what scenes I found especially bad:
- The loose-thread scene: This doesn't happen in real life. It wasn't cute either. That was the first moment, where I lost hope for this series.
- Them bumping into each other and how that was shown from 3 different angles. Now something like that is considered a romantic scene we must see in slow motion 3 times?
- How Min was sneaking up to Q, smiling and shaking his head as he is madly in love. Where is the character development? He was annoyed by him before, rightfully so. I would expect him NOT to be so friendly and open considering the hardships he has in life, considering the job he accepted. Be a bit more cautious.
- Q tripping, falling, and of course Min is there to catch him (give me a break)
- The whole kidnapping scene, how badly they tied him up, everything looks cheap and not well-thought-out.
- Q trying to get rid of that face mask, and yelling at Min: I have seen your face. Normally you would do the opposite. The moment he has seen his face, he is in danger. Now Min may have to kill him. Writers, what's wrong with you?
- Suddenly Min gets a phone call he should kill Q, doesn't make sense. Someone believing he would really do it neither. Like I wrote somewhere else: What to do with the corpse? They didn't think this through. They make it look like killing is easy. The guns don't look real either.
- Ohm's character is hard to connect to. He played the Prince Charming in Bad Buddy, this role looks similar. Why don't they make the character more complex? He is a good guy with some financial problems (clichè), that's it. Why making him always the soft and good guy?

So to sum it up: What am I supposed to look forward here?
Oh yes, Leng's pretty face.

GMMTV was always shallow, wasn't it? They started out with small series with questionable production and acting. Then they suddenly got a big following, they discovered there was money to be made in the BL industry. They got bold and earned their place in the industry with higher production quality and better acting and stories, and now they are just milking everything to the last drop, and try to make as much money as fast and easy as possible.
But to be fair, you cannot reinvent the wheel. New (young) BL fans are coming in, and so they just repeat what was successful in the past.
Until I got 2 or 3 enjoyable series per year, I wasn't complaining. But I don't recall a single series from them in 2024 I enjoyed.
Same with Korean BL btw. From good acting, psychological complex series and some artistic cinematography they want pretty fast to manhwa style boring rom-com with characters that don't feel real at all.

I don't see any ON freaks, they are long gone. I'm disappointed in this series after the first episode, but I will watch it to the end, because Leng is so pretty, lol.

Thame - Po had the best trailer I have ever seen from GMMTV. Beautifully filmed. I watched it several times. I wonder how good or bad the series will turn out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ7bsS6HGZY

GMMTV is at fault too, because they have no integrity and are indeed lazy. It's their decision at the end of the day, if they want to try out new things, produce risky series and focus on quality, or if they just want to make money. I wonder if the worldwide economic crisis is a reason for the quality drop. Everyone struggles, so they go down the easy route, which brings them the most money with the lowest costs. Those cooking series OffGun do recently are sure cheaper to produce than a series like Not Me. They also typecast a lot. FirstKhaotung are the guys for those raunchy series (Heart Killers looks like Only Friends 2.0), TayNew are the soap opera boys, PondPhuwin are the boys who make the girlies scream and can do no wrong, since they look pretty, same for JongDunk, and Forth and Gemini are casted for the mandatory high school series, since Mix-up was MSP 2.0. They are becoming Hollywood. Repetition, recycled storylines and REMAKES, so many REMAKES.

💯
You read my mind. Couldn't have said it better.
I was a big advocate for GMMTV series: From Sotus (!!) to series like Not Me, 3 will be free, The Eclipse, even Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, or cute and enjoyable series like My School President, Bad Buddy, Be My Favorite (!!!) - they all had great music, atmosphere and acting. Also, most of the time, the plot kept me on the edge of my seat. GMMTV proved they can do it. They were creative and had some good actors to the point where I thought GMMTV equals high quality BL series. Sure, not every series is a masterpiece, but sooner or later they will drop something big.
But nope, they got lazy.
I hope for First&Khaotung saving the year in Heart Killers, and I'm waiting for Krist to return with Singto. Thame Po looks also good, but so did Kidnap.
I don't know ... I have lost my faith, lol ...

"The close-to-amateur acting and line delivery are standard Thai BL too."
The boys are doing an okay job, I guess. But what really bothers me, how the older actors in such series are always lacking. Are there no serious well-established actors who want to act in BL series? I swear to god, I can't recall a single good older actor in a Thai BL series, same for Taiwan BLs, if I think about it.

Lol, exactly.
This is some silly rom-com with an edgy kidnap-plot.
Not a kidnapping/gangster series with romance.